The Nashville Predators P.K. Subban has delivered an All-Star guarantee for Saturday nights game (Saturday, June 3, 2017) with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals

“There’s no question,” Subban said yesterday (Thursday, June 1, 2017). “We’re going to win the next game, and then we’ll move forward.”

Subban came very close to guaranteeing a win in the moments after Pittsburgh’s 4-1 win Wednesday night. The Penguins turned a 1-1 game into a rout by scoring three goals in the first 3:28 of the third period , forcing Nashville coach Peter Laviolette to pull star goaltender Pekka Rinne for rookie Juuse Saros.

Subban explained why he was so confident, noting the Predators know they deserve to be playing for the Stanley Cup.

“We’re capable of playing even better than we did in Pittsburgh, and I thought we played some great hockey,” Subban said. “I mean, out of 120 minutes, maybe we’d like to take back six of them. Ultimately, we have to be realistic with where we’re at. We’re down 2-nothing. We’re coming back in our barn, and we don’t lose here. So it starts Saturday.”

Laviolette gave no hint about whether Rinne will start Game 3, saying only that he will not talk about lineup changes. The Predators coach says his goalies know who will start.

Rinne went into the final with the stingiest numbers in net this postseason and a favorite to win the Conn Smythe trophy as postseason MVP. The 34-year-old goalie has instead given up eight goals on 36 shots through two games. Two goals went off teammates and into the net, but it has not been the inspiring performance that the Predators and their fans are used to from the big Finn.

His save percentage has dipped throughout the playoffs — .976 against Chicago, then .932 against St. Louis and .925 in the West finals against Anaheim. Against the quick-strike Penguins, it’s just .778.

The Predators are 7-1 inside Bridgestone Arena this postseason with the lone loss coming in overtime. They expect a loud arena for Game 3, which is the first Cup Final home game in Nashville history and it comes on a Saturday night.

Nashville may be home, but the Penguins have history on their side.

Since the Final went to the best-of-seven format in 1939, teams leading 2-0 have won 45 of 50 series. That includes the last three such situations with the Kings winning in 2012 and 2014 and the Penguins a year ago.

Pittsburgh also is proof that a team can rally from an 0-2 deficit to win the Stanley Cup, doing it in 2009 to beat Detroit in seven games. Boston did the same thing against Vancouver in 2011, also a seven-game series.

Coach Mike Sullivan said his Penguins are experienced enough to understand the need to focus. The Penguins lost 5-1 in Nashville last October, and the atmosphere will be much more intense this time around with a forecast that could include fan-tossed catfish.